ErntevsernteteTell them apart

Quick tell: Ernte is a noun, erntete is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ernte” is a noun and “erntete” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,313
“Ernte” frequency rank
#41,147
“erntete” frequency rank
48460
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ernte erntete
Definition sämtliche Arbeiten, die zum Einbringen landwirtschaftlicher Gewächse und Früchte notwendig sind 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ernten

Where the eye mixes Ernte and erntete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Ernte runs 5 letters (VCCCV) against erntete's 7 (VCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Ernte
7 ch
erntete

Why the eye confuses Ernte with erntete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ernte is [ˈɛʁntə] while erntete is [ˈɛʁntətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Ernte” sits inside “erntete”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ernte is recorded at frequency rank #7,313, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁntə]. erntete is at rank #41,147, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɛʁntətə].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 48460, this pair ranks #1,247,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ernte vs erntete

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "Ernte": -. Private to "erntete": -.

"Ernte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "erntete" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ernte ← enrte · ernet · ernnte · erntte · errnte · ertne
  • erntete ← enrtete · ernette · ernntete · ernteet · erntette · ernttee · ernttete · errntete

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Ernte" for "erntete" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ernte" is a noun and "erntete" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Ernte" or "erntete" show up more?
"Ernte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,313 in our German list, against #41,147 for "erntete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ernte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erntete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,247,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ernte" and "erntete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Entente vs erntete". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,247,791 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list